Rejected

I didn’t have a lot of dates in college.  It may have been my own fault.  I had a fear of rejection.  The fear of rejection is a powerful thing.  It can keep us from doing the things that we really long to do…like asking our dad to take us somewhere special…“Dad, can we go to McDonalds?”

“No!...We can’t afford that!...What do you think, money grows on trees?...We can go home and eat a cold ham sandwich on the stale, dry bread heels…and if you are real good, I might let you put some butter on it too."

Rejected.

“Dad, can we buy Cocoa Puffs?”

“No!...I just bought cereal”

“Dad, it’s shredded wheat…it’s like eating miniature bales of hay!”

“You will eat and you will like it!”

…Ok…How does that even make sense?...

Rejected.

I remember one particular moment in college.  Our chapel time had just finished (we were required to attend four chapel services per week) and I had really been trying to amp myself up to ask this particular girl out.  Day after day…for weeks, I would, intentionally, wait outside of the chapel doors and watch for her to arrive.  When I would see her arrive, I would watch closely to try to find a place in the near proximity of her. 

On this particular day, I had contrived a plan.  My younger brother, who was still in high school, had a wrestling tournament on the Saturday of the upcoming weekend.  I was going to ask her to accompany me to this festive event.  This was the perfect plan that would lead to either A: It would inform me if she was a wrestling fan, or B: Give me an opportunity to expose her to the great sport of wrestling.  After all, is there a better first date than to go watch sweaty guys, in tight fitting singlets, pound each other relentlessly into submission inside a loud echoing gymnasium for 8 hours? I thought not.

After the concluding prayer that concluded chapel, I made a beeline for her.  She was already talking with friends…some girls…some guys…bad guys if you ask me.  I stood nearby waiting for my moment, and just the conversation allowed me to interject I asked...“Hey, do you want to go with me to watch my brother wrestle this weekend?”

She curtly replied, “Ummm, I’d want to do this because….?”

Rejected.

In John 6:60-72, we find that Jesus Christ gets rejected.  He has been doing amazing things.  He has been healing people, feeding thousands of people, walking on water, calming the winds and the waves…and countless other miracles.  Despite all of these wondrous signs…many people reject Jesus, in a sense saying…“No thanks Jesus…if you don’t give me what I want…I am out of here…in fact Jesus…you are not teaching the way I think you should…so I am done following you.”

Rejected.

It makes me wonder.  What happens when we don’t agree with what Jesus says?

Will we reject him? Or will we come to understand that Jesus is sovereign…and He is who He is…not what we want Him to be.

Oh…and I ended up marrying that girl.